This paper describes how one researcher learned to overcome artificial intelligence (AI) paralysis and embrace ChatPDF. This freely available AI application uses natural language processing (NLP) to ...respond to user queries about an uploaded PDF. Researcher insights from experimenting with the AI tool ChatPDF for qualitative data analysis are presented, highlighting the advantages, pitfalls, and application-related considerations. As a two-phase curiosity experiment, the researcher engaged in a theory-building exercise to explore key concepts for understanding when using ChatPDF to assist researchers in qualitative data analysis. The experiment generated insights about the purposeful use of AI tools that incorporate NLP for analysis and the risks of inaccuracy when researchers are not familiar with the data or skilled in prompt engineering. Insights raise questions about whether ChatPDF is a viable research assistant for qualitative researchers, ethical issues with specific forms of qualitative data, and the potential of AI tools for community and student researchers.
INTRODUCTION: As members of a profession that promotes social justice and human rights, social workers are well-positioned to engage in sexual health practices. Such practices include providing human ...immunodeficiency virus (HIV) services, a significant aspect in the development of sexual citizenship, or supporting the rights and responsibilities of people in their sexual lives. Comprising part of the second-largest ethnic minority group, Asian men who have sex with men (MSM) are the most HIV-affected ethnic minority group in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, social work practices with this cohort are non-specific. This article presents the concept of sexual citizenship as a lens through which to better understand the sexual health needs of Asian MSM in Aotearoa and how social workers or other health professionals might be supportive.
APPROACH: A narrative literature review of eight articles concerning Asian MSM's sexual health in Aotearoa was undertaken. Three themes were identified from this review: 1) sexual stigma, discrimination and prejudice; 2) sexual health and layered identities; and 3) knowledge of safer sex practises.
CONCLUSIONS: As the fastest growing ethnic minority group in Aotearoa, more actions and resources are required to meet Asian, particularly Asian MSM's, sexual health needs. The social work profession can play a critical role by advocating for sexual citizenship, providing supportive sexual health resources, and addressing sexual stigma and health disparities among Asian MSM.
Methylarginines inhibit nitric oxide synthases (NOS). Cellular concentrations of methylarginines are determined in part by the activity of dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH; EC 3.5.3. ...18). We have cloned human DDAH and identified and expressed a second novel DDAH isoform (DDAH I and II respectively). DDAH I predominates in tissues that express neuronal NOS. DDAH II predominates in tissues expressing endothelial NOS. These results strengthen the hypothesis that methylarginine concentration is actively regulated and identify molecular targets for the tissue and cell-specific regulation of methylarginine concentration.
Introduction: The experiences with healthcare services of women who use substances (WWUS) - especially when pregnant or parenting - are largely missing from research in Aotearoa. This scoping review ...was conducted to inform doctoral research on a new, integrated parenting and substance-use residential-treatment facility in Auckland: Te Whare Taonga.
Approach: Two objectives of the review were to: 1) collate insights from experiences of women who use substances; and 2) synthesise strengths and weaknesses within current healthcare and alcohol or other drug (AOD) services to understand what works to support WWUS, particularly those who are pregnant or parenting. Peer-reviewed studies, grey literature, and theses published between 1992-2022 exploring the perspectives and views of WWUS and their experiences of substance use, healthcare services, and AOD-treatment providers in Aotearoa New Zealand, were scoped in multiple databases.
Findings: The review evidenced a need for gender-specific or gender-sensitive services that are non-stigmatising, accessible to pregnant or parenting women, and culturally appropriate. Holistic care tailored to individual need was considered important. Barriers to treatment included stigma, wait times, negative experiences of healthcare workers, and a lack of appropriate services to meet women's needs.
Conclusions: There is a lack of AOD services available to WWUS, and, subsequently, research is limited. However, the findings provide an understanding of how healthcare and treatment providers, social workers, whanau (extended family, family group, can include friends with no kinship ties), community, and funders can provide informed and empathetic support to WWUS, including those who are pregnant and parenting.
Domestic stigmatisation serves as an umbrella term for acts of enacted or felt stigma experienced in a person's domestic environment. This article reports on the term which transpired from a ...narrative inquiry in 2011 with people living with HIV (PLWH) who reported humiliation or segregation, experienced or perceived, within the domestic environment that rendered the individual disabled, diseased, unworthy, unhealthy, or deficient. A literature review about this form of stigma was conducted using the following inclusion criteria: 1) a peer-reviewed source; 2) published between 2011 and 2018; 3) access to full-text articles; 4) accessible in English; 5) reported from any country; and 6) using qualitative or mixed-method approaches. A total of 37 studies were included in the review - documenting 51 specific experiences of domestic stigmatisation (referred to as acts for the purpose of the review) across all studies. A matrix was developed detailing each study's' publication date, geographical context, participant gender (where possible) and the reported acts. A critical analysis is offered on the concept "domestic stigmatisation" and its relevance to domestic or family interventions. Deliberate attention to this concept can potentially refocus HIV stigma-reducing interventions to benefit families and promote coping strategies to reduce stigma-related stress associated with seropositive identities.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the cause of one-fifth of all lower respiratory tract infections worldwide and is increasingly being recognized as representing a serious threat to patient groups ...with poorly functioning or immature immune systems. Racemic 1,4-benzodiazepines show potent anti-RSV activity in vitro. Anti-RSV evaluation of 3-position R- and S-benzodiazepine enantiomers and subsequent optimization of this series resulted in selection of a clinical candidate. Antiviral activity was found to reside mainly in the S-enantiomer, and the R-enantiomers were consistently less active against RSV. Analogues of 1,4-(S)-benzodiazepine were synthesized as part of the lead optimization program at Arrow and tested in the XTT assay. From this exercise, (S)-1-(2-fluorophenyl)-3-(2-oxo-5-phenyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzoe1,4-diazepin-3-yl)-urea, 17b (RSV-604) was identified as a clinical candidate, exhibiting potent anti-RSV activity in the XTT assay, which was confirmed in secondary assays. Compound 17b also possessed a good pharmacokinetic profile and has now progressed into the clinic.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the cause of one-fifth of all lower respiratory tract infections worldwide and is increasingly being recognized as a serious threat to patient groups with poorly ...functioning immune systems. Our approach to finding a novel inhibitor of this virus was to screen a 20 000-member diverse library in a whole cell XTT assay. Parallel assays were carried out in the absence of virus in order to quantify any associated cell toxicity. This identified 100 compounds with IC50's less than 50 μM. A-33903 (18), a 1,4-benzodiazepine analogue, was chosen as the starting point for lead optimization. This molecule was moderately active and demonstrated good pharmacokinetic properties. The most potent compounds identified from this work were A-58568 (47), A-58569 (44), and A-62066 (46), where modifications to the aromatic substitution enhanced potency, and A-58175 (42), where the amide linker was modified.
Incubation of human articular chondrocytes with interleukin 1 beta results in the time-dependent expression of nitric oxide (NO) synthase. We report here the isolation of a cDNA clone which encodes a ...protein of 1153 amino acids with a molecular mass of 131,213 Da and a calculated isoelectric point of 7.9. CHO cells transfected with a plasmid harboring this cDNA clone expressed NO synthase activity that was inhibited by some L-arginine analogues. The deduced amino acid sequence of the human chondrocyte inducible NO synthase shows 51% identity and 68% similarity with the endothelial NO synthase and 54% identity and 70% similarity with the neuronal NO synthase. The similarity (88%) between the human chondrocyte NO synthase cDNA sequence and that reported for the murine macrophage suggests that the inducible class of enzyme is conserved between different cell types and across species.
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